"Eren…"
Eren felt like his own name was a melody in itself when Sara pronounced it. To his ears, Sara's voice sounded like an oriole singing in the spring forest.
'Boss, you are down bad.'
The butcher ignored Argo's random chatter in his head. He raised his folded hands above the table and cupped his face with his palms as he listened to Sara's request.
"Eren, there's so much I want to ask you. I would like some of my queries answered if you don't mind.
But first, I would like to start off with this question.
I want to go to White Raven to meet my friend Katalina Reich. She's almost like a sister to me. Would you mind if I accompanied you when you leave the capital?"
For mortals like her, traveling from one prominent city to another was unsafe. Especially when there was so much distance to cover between the two locations. Sara wanted to have some protection in Eren's company. And the butcher was more than happy to provide it.
Eren didn't even care that he had promised Layla and Ivor that he would be in the city of Lancelot as soon as he wrapped up everything in the capital city. Or rather, that commitment was erased from his head as he replied to Sara in a voice mixed with a little joy and a little flirt.
"Mind? Why would I mind? In fact, I'll kidnap you if you don't willingly come with me."
Eren received another arm pinch from Alephee when he finished his statement. At this point, Eren was prepared to get pinched. So he chose not to react to Alephee's pain-inducing tactics.
"Hehehe. Why are you like this?"
Sara couldn't help but laugh out loud. By this point, she had understood that the Expert ranker sitting in front of her was flirting with her. She just didn't know why.
"Do you do this with every girl you meet, Eren? Or am I just that special?"
Eren smiled when he heard Sara's question and the way she asked it. He smiled back at her.
Sara was starting to open up to Eren. And Eren was glad she was.
***
At this point, Eren had been with many women. In both of his timelines, he was as promiscuous as he wanted to be. So it was only natural that he would develop some notions of his own when dealing with a fairer gender. No matter how right or wrong they were when interacting with women individually.
The butcher was convinced that a majority of women had no social skills. At least not in traditional sense.
They would react passively to anything said to them. They just couldn't add anything substantial to the conversation on their own.
Most guys would have to carry the weight of such conversations for both of them when talking to such women. And there was only one fate awaiting those who carried such weight for a long time– total exhaustion.
Of course, Eren didn't hold women responsible for such behavior. He just treated it as one of the unchangeable facts of life and carried on.
Sara was different.
Sara was a rare gem among shiny stones. She was a precious golden goblet sitting atop a mountain of treasure.
Sara was witty and wise at the same time.
She was very intuitive and smart. She had an excellent grasp of her language. She would get all the sarcasm directed at her. Not only that, she would reply to such sarcastic comments with her brand of sarcasm as well.
Her taunts were funny and piercing. Sometimes, even more than those directed at her.
Sara could flatten someone up with her words alone. But it was only applicable to those who got the meaning behind her words in the first place.
Speaking to Sara was like a fresh breeze for those she opened up to. When she really knew someone, she didn't hesitate to talk about anything to them. No subject was off the agenda. No joke was off-limits.
Sara could do all this while still retaining her exceptional feminine charm. She was comfortable in her skin and situation– which got reflected in everything she did or said.
Only this kind of positivity could inject some life into Eren when he met Sara in his first timeline. When Sara opened up to Eren in the past timeline, Eren felt Sara was a strange creature, rarer than legendary-tier beasts and monsters.
The butcher was never impatient. The chronic planner in him believed in working diligently towards his goals. He had followed this code of conduct since his new timeline began.
But Sara's face made Eren forget about patience. This was the reason Eren acted so enthusiastically around Sara. There was a part of him that wanted to find the chemistry between him and Sara as soon as he could. It was the same kind of chemistry he experienced in the last timeline.
***
"Do you talk like this to every girl you meet? Or am I just that special?"
Sara's question wasn't enough to faze Eren when he was in his game. He tilted his head before answering her playfully.
"Hmm. I'm not just a smooth talker with girls. My best lines are reserved for those who truly catch my attention.
So I can say you're special, Sara. And I couldn't resist making you smile."
The butcher then pointed his index finger at Sara accusingly before continuing.
"So I can only blame you. Are you always this charming, or is it just because you're talking to me?"
A tit for tat.
Sara felt a strong urge to ask Eren if he was praising her or tooting his own horn. But instead of doing that, she chuckled before narrowing her blank-looking eyes to Eren fearlessly.
"Well, I suppose it could be a bit of both."
For some reason, Alephee felt like an unwanted guest the couple didn't need in their house anymore. And this was when she served as the sole witness to most of Eren's "escapades."
But all this while, she never felt like a third wheel in Eren's relationship as she did at this point.
